MEMORIES SIGNED

Project "MEMORIES" data sheet

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 Project objective

Dendritic information processing is fundamental to how we perceive and interact with the world around us. Spatio-temporal maps of dendritic voltage reveal how information is processed in the brain, but remain unexplored in awake animals, since no recording technique was previously available to study them. I recently developed a novel technique for spatio-temporal mapping of dendritic processing in unparalleled detail (Roome and Kuhn, 2018). My pioneering experiments provided the first observation of spatio-temporal dendritic voltage signalling in vivo. For the first time, I combined simultaneous dendritic voltage and calcium imaging with somatic recording in cerebellar Purkinje neurons of awake mice to reveal complex dendritic processes, including discrete dendritic spikelets, back-propagating action potentials and localized subthreshold signalling. Using my novel technique to record from neocortical Pyramidal neurons, I will now investigate dendritic processing in behaving mice, to explore how memories are formed during learning. I will focus on how back-propagating action potentials contribute to dendritic processing, through modulation of synaptic plasticity. The Laboratory of Sensory Processing (Prof. Carl Petersen) at EPFL, Switzerland, is specialized for investigating synaptic mechanisms of sensory processing and highly experienced in whole-cell recording and optical imaging during animal behaviour and training; all of which are critical for the success of this project. This fellowship will be instrumental in propelling a technique, that I have been committed to developing, towards state-of-the-art research in neuroscience. It will provide an ideal avenue for introducing a new technique to Europe, through a world leading laboratory, and prove invaluable for sharing skills I acquired abroad, while establishing networks and collaborations as I re-integrate into the European neuroscience community, in pursuit of a professional research carrier based in Europe.